


Missed Connection

by SquallStrife



Category: Final Fantasy VII, Final Fantasy VIII, Kingdom Hearts
Genre: Cleon, Fluff, M/M, Strifehart, literally I am Yuffie reading through missed connections omg, why does this ship have so many relationship tags
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-05-31
Updated: 2015-05-31
Packaged: 2018-04-02 04:11:26
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 1,724
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4045438
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SquallStrife/pseuds/SquallStrife
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>I don’t know why I’m even looking here, there’s a definite chance you’ll never see this ever, but somehow maybe it’ll reach you... You had this crazy spiked blond hair, and you called me a lion. I never got your name.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. petrichor

Leon cursed himself as he stepped onto the sidewalk, hair immediately being pushed flat by the rain. He should have followed Selphie’s directions to _take an umbrella!_ before he left the house. Crossing his arms, he scowled at his decision to walk to the drug store; did he even need milk that bad? A fat drop fell right onto his eyelid and he huffed, too prideful to wipe it away, but too bugged to walk with one eye obscured; solution, he would just flick his head and it’d fly off.

 

No. Bad idea.

 

He flicked his head, but the motion didn’t let him see the oncoming tile front of a laundromat missing a WET FLOOR sign, and he slipped and fell right on his ass.

 

Then, a chuckle sounded behind him and suddenly the rain wasn’t pouring on Leon anymore.

 

With an angry expression he whipped his head back to see who laughed, but it softened once he saw the smiling man with a navy blue umbrella big enough to cover both of them.

 

“You okay?” the blond stranger asked, bending down to grab the gallon of milk that fell out of Leon’s hand, passing it back to the brunet.

 

“...Yeah,” was Leon’s brilliant answer, grabbing the milk back and standing up.

 

“Where ya’ headed?” asked the Umbrella Guy.

 

“Uh, that pho shop, Forage.”

 

“With the like, flat on the top of it?”

 

“Yeah, exactly. Why do you ask?”

 

“I’m heading passed that place, if you wanna walk under my umbrella with me,” Umbrella Guy offered.

 

“Yeah, I’d really appreciate that, actually,” Leon replied, thankful for this random nice stranger.

 

They started walking together, peacefully, both of their boots sloshing water in the streets. Playfully, Umbrella Guy kicked some water over at Leon, who kicked some right back. They were quietly laughing, casually enjoying the company of a total stranger.

 

“So, you work at the pho place right?’’

 

“Yeah,” Leon replied, “you ever been?”

 

“No, actually. I was about to say I’ve never had pho before.”

 

“What?” Leon turned towards the blond. “How have you never tried it before? It’s like, one of my favorite dishes of all time.”

 

“I’ll stop by there some time, then,” the stranger smiled, “and I’ll specifically request that you serve me.”

 

Leon chortled, “well, I live right there so that won’t be much of a struggle. Just ask for Leon.”

 

“Leon, hm. And your hair looks like a mane. Leon the lion,” the blond laughed at his own pun. Leon laughed too, but if it was anyone else, he’d probably just scowl. How odd to feel more comfortable and relaxed with a stranger than the people you see every day. “Well, here we are.”

 

In front of the restaurant, Leon was annoyed that he didn’t even realize how close they were to his place. He sighed, weighing the jug of milk in his grip.

 

“Thank so much for sharing your umbrella with me, I really, really appreciate it.”

 

“Ah, no problem. I’ll be sure to stop around here sometime, too.”

 

“Keep that promise,” Leon joked, unlocking the front door to the closed shop. “Bye.”

 

“See you,” was the reply he got, right before he closed the door. They waved at each other through the glass and Leon looked out until the blond spikes were out of his sight. He hummed and started towards the fridge to put the milk in. And then he realized.

 

He didn’t get Umbrella Guy’s name.

  
“...Shit.”


	2. serendipity

Yuffie had a weird way of entertaining herself when she was bored. She was scrolling through the ‘Missed Connection’ section of Craigslist, looking for hilarious posts about people farting in saunas or having sloppy sex in odd places. She saw potential in a title that read **‘No Rihanna Jokes, Please - m4m - 23’**.

 

Clueless, she clicked and read.

 

_I don’t know why I’m even looking here, there’s a definite chance you’ll never see this ever, but somehow maybe it’ll reach you._

_Last Tuesday I was walking from the drug store in midtown and I completely fell on my ass in the rain. You came behind me with an umbrella, and offered to let me walk with you under it to my place. We were splashing each other’s shoes with puddle water and you were just so… darling._

 

_You had this crazy spiked blond hair, and you called me a lion. I never got your name._

 

_Obviously, if this ever crosses your path you don’t have to do anything about it, but you did make a promise to stop by my restaurant._

 

Yuffie went through a roller coaster of emotions, knowing exactly what the hell this was all about. Late Tuesday night/Early Wednesday morning her best friend, Cloud, told her about this story of a man he met at night who was walking in the rain.

 

“Are you kidding me?” she screeched to herself, grabbing her phone and calling said umbrella wielder. He answered and before he could even get a word out Yuffie yelled, “Cloud! We gotta go to that pho shop!”

 

“Uh, okay? Why so sudden?”

 

“I’ll show you when we’re there you just gotta go there now! I’ll meet you there in like, twenty minutes.”

 

“Sure, okay, Yuffie.”

 

She hung up on him and booked it to her car, barely even tying her shoes. The drive to Forage was rushed, Yuffie driving fast enough to meet Cloud on time, who was definitely walking to the restaurant. She pulled into a parking spot and ran into the shop, seeing Cloud sitting patiently at a small table, drinking some bubble tea patiently. Her arms were raised as she ran to him, practically jumping into the seat across from him.

 

“Cloud! Oh my god, one second, let me pull it up on my phone,” she frantically said, typing in the url on her cell, fingers flying down the page until she came across it. She pulled it up and pushed it towards him. He read silently, eyes scanning line after line before he pushed it back to her. “So?!”

 

“I don’t know what to think,” he replied, a blush on his cheeks, and rubbing the nape of his neck. “Considering he’s literally behind the counter right now.”

 

Yuffie whipped her head back to take a look. He has rich, coffee brown hair that flowed past his shoulders and wispy bangs pushed away from his eyes. Small silver stud earrings peeked through his hair and a lion necklace adorned his neck. His eyes were a calm blue and his arm muscles were defined, accentuated by his tight-sleeved uniform shirt. A scar ran down diagonally on his face, mainly on his nose.

 

“Wow,” Yuffie turned back to Cloud, whispering, “he is beautiful.”

 

Cloud rolled his eyes, seeing him walk from the counter, “don’t embarrass me when he comes to take our order okay. Don’t you dare, Yuffie.”

 

“Fine,” she raised her hands defensively as the brunet came to their table.

 

“Hey,” he said towards Cloud, a small smile playing on the corners of his lips, “you made it.”

 

“Yeah, I made it,” they looked at each other thoughtfully until Yuffie tilted her head and Cloud snapped out. “Oh, and this is my best friend, Yuffie.”

 

“Nice to meet you!” Yuffie greeted, taking his hand and shaking it excitedly. “I just gave Cloud a ride here, as a favor. I’ll be heading off now, but I’m sure I’ll see you sometime again, soon.”

 

Cloud’s eyebrows were raised, but he said nothing as Yuffie stood and had Leon take her seat, waving to them before bolting out of the store in her usual giddy fashion.

 

“So, according to her, I’m guessing your name is Cloud?” Leon asked, eyebrow raised.

 

“Yes! I’m so sorry, I completely didn’t even realize I never told you my name.”

 

“It’s fine,” Leon all but whispered, looking out the window near them, pointing at the gorgeous twilight settling in the sky. “You know, my shift is almost over, if you wanna take some pho and sit outside, where it’s closed off.”

  
Cloud nodded, “I’d love that.”


	3. luminescence

“You know,” Cloud said, slurping a noodle up, “this is really, really good.”

 

Leon smiled, “I told you. Selphie’s a really good cook. She’s my roommate, and she’s just this hyper, clumsy ball of… energy.”

 

“Huh,” Cloud chuckled, “so she’s Yuffie.”

 

“They’d probably get along, huh?” Leon sipped at his soda when the balcony fairy lights sparked awake, as they were set to automatically light up at 7 o’clock. “Ah, there they are.”

 

“Woah,” Cloud trailed off, looking around at the lit up railings, able to see the fountain in the center of midtown, but still dim enough to keep the tone intimate. “This is… really pretty.”

 

“Yeah,” Leon breathed out, leaning back in his chair and studying Cloud’s astonished face. “It’s like you’ve never seen Christmas lights before,” Leon teased.

 

“Sorry, it’s just,” Cloud shook his head. “Nevermind. That’s so stupid, oh god.”

 

“What?”

 

“I was just gonna say, that this is really, well, special feeling.”

 

Leon grinned, “I’m glad,” and they sat in a comfortable silence for a few minutes until Leon asked what he was wondering for a bit, “so, what convinced you to come in? No offense, but I was almost convinced you were never.”

 

Cloud squirmed, “well, Yuffie has this weird obsession with reading, uh, missed connections on Craigslist.”

 

Leon’s eyebrows shot up, and now it was his turn to blush, “I hope you don’t find that creepy… Selphie actually suggested I post one, just in case. Cause, I kinda just gave up hope that I’d see you again… which also sounds creepy, dear god.”

 

“No! It’s fine, I mean, it did work. And I was going to go, but I thought that it’d be weird if I just showed up and asked for a certain person, and I don’t know. We were both scared of weirding each other out.”

 

“I guess so,” Leon laughed, covering his mouth and looking at Cloud. The blond joined in with the laughing, which Leon found the sound endearing.

 

A small drizzle started, the mist lightly showering them. They both looked at each other and leaned in, a gentle, chaste kiss shared between the two men.

 

When they pulled away Leon snickered, “you taste like pho.”

 

Cloud wiped a drop of rain from Leon’s eyelid, “and you look like a lion.”

**Author's Note:**

> Aaaaah so this was a fic I started two years ago for a completely different pairing in a completely different fandom, but it never saw any life passed a file in my laptop. I picked it up again to a short and sweet threeshot, far better than the old attempt. I really like it now! Hopefully this receives positive reactions, I'm pushing through some writer's block. C':
> 
> For Strifehart Sunday! ♥


End file.
